My tomato plants are wilting

[Gingenator]

I'm in southwestern ontario I'm having issues with my tomato plants I leave for work in the morning and they are healthy as can be I come home and the top half of the plant is wilted it seems to be random plants throughout the patch one day 2 plants a week later 2 more a few days later 4 more until they are all affected some seem to bounce back a bit but never really fully recover eventually they all are affected and they all end up dying I don't see any common pests on them none of the leaves are eaten I don't see any visible signs of mildew or mold some wilt the day after I water them some a day or 2 later there are some little black bugs really tiny smaller then a spec of pepper usually only see a few they are not completely infested any help would be appreciated thanks

 

[Chuck]

I'm in southwestern ontario I'm having issues with my tomato plants I leave for work in the morning and they are healthy as can be I come home and the top half of the plant is wilted it seems to be random plants throughout the patch one day 2 plants a week later 2 more a few days later 4 more until they are all affected some seem to bounce back a bit but never really fully recover eventually they all are affected and they all end up dying I don't see any common pests on them none of the leaves are eaten I don't see any visible signs of mildew or mold some wilt the day after I water them some a day or 2 later there are some little black bugs really tiny smaller then a spec of pepper usually only see a few they are not completely infested any help would be appreciated thanks

When a plant wilts it is usually a watering issue but in this case I don't think so. IMO your plants have bacterial wilt. I think this because only portions of the plant are wilted and not the entire plant. Perhaps the following link will help.

Tomato Diseases: Bacterial Wilt

Tomato diseases: how to identify and treat bacterial wilt in tomatoes. What does bacterial wilt look like? How does it affect plants? How can you control and prevent it?

www.tomatodirt.com

 

[DirtMechanic]

Your soil is infected now and you will find bio-remediation useful. Here is some light but useful reading material.

Biocontrol of Bacterial Wilt Disease Through Complex Interaction Between Tomato Plant, Antagonists, the Indigenous Rhizosphere Microbiota, and Ralstonia solanacearum

Ralstonia solanacearum (biovar2, race3) is the causal agent of bacterial wilt and this quarantine phytopathogen is responsible for massive losses in several commercially important crops. Biological control of this pathogen might become a suitable plant protection measure in areas where R...

www.frontiersin.org

 

[DirtMechanic]

As usual I had another thought but the post timer ran out so...

One thing about heavy composting in place is that eventually fungi come to eat the bacteria that started the compost process and they will minimize bacteria populations of all sorts. This is a variation on the idea of adding organic matter because it is inclusive of the area of your problem and is aimed at next years planting. Compost in that spot and enjoy the cleansing effect of voracious blooms of bio. Also there are a variety of antibiotics available for soil, such as actinovate, a product made with members of the streptomycin family that behaves much like a penicillin. I would have to read on targeting and if anybody has tried it but thats a real pathway. Also many essential oils like garlic and thyme oil are highly effective antiseptics and their use over time helps. Also, there are two kinds of active compost tea, the bacterially heavy and the fungally heavy. To brew a fungally heavy tea one includes more proteins, like with oatmeal or soybean meal. The bacterial version requires more sugar and carbohydrates. I suspect increasing the number of hungry for bacteria fungi might be of use to you but that can be a very targeted biowarfare.